README.md

CE 397 Infrastructure Systems Optimization Course Project

Authors: Kyle Bathgate, Matthew Friar, Qianqian Tong

Dec 9, 2024

This repository contains Python scripts for the container stacking problem (CSP) conducted as a course project for Dr. Guo at UT Austin.

We create a rule-based heuristic and a dynamic program (DP) to stack containers in a terminal yard bay such that the number of reshuffles is minimal.

To run the heuristic, execute the file heuristic_analysis.py. Change the variables $n$, $N$, $H$, and $B$ in the file to run different instances. In-code comments provide a description of the variables and code structure and logic used.

To run the DP, execute the file DP_analysis.py. This instance will only work for $B = 2$ and $n = 4$, for a maximum of $N = 24$ unique input permutations.

Running both of the scripts will output different summary statistics and plots for analysis.

The file helpers.py contains functions used for sorting lists, computing swaps in bubble sort to count reshuffles, etc.